Apparatus to iron fibers on a moving web

ABSTRACT

A guiding means for a moving web is adapted to move the web into and out of engagement with an ironing roll. The guiding mechanism in a first position will hold the web in contact with the ironing roll for ironing the fibers of the moving web. Moving of the guiding means to a second position will permit the web to be moved out of engagement with the ironing roll, but will also provide for automatic compensation for slack created by moving the web away from the ironing roll.

United States Patent [lll Kolb 1 Nov. 25, 1975 APPARATUS TO IRON FIBERS ON A [56] References Cited MOVING WEB UNITED STATES PATENTS [75] lnventor: Michael J. Kalb, Lancaster, Pa. 262,491 8/1882 Smith 38/9 2.866.282 12/1958 Fredholm 38/59 Assgneei grmslrzmg g C0mPanY* 3,110,612 11/1963 Gottwald et a1. 34/116 x ancas er, a.

[22] Filed: Oct. 26, 1973 Primary ExaminerGeo. V. Larkin [21] Appl. No.: 409,816 [57] ABSTRACT l44l T :T i g z g g i g purest A guiding means for a moving web is adapted to move B 5 u y a ocumen the web into and out of engagement with an ironing roll. The guiding mechanism in a first position will hold the web in contact with the ironing roll for iron- [22] 38429;;24113 ing the fibers of the moving well Moving of the guid g i "gig/ /2 ing means to a second position will permit the web to 38/2-11, 44-54, 58, 59; 34/117, 116, 118, 120-124; 26/186, 2 E; 28/72 R, 72 F, 72.1, 72.17; 100/155 R, 172; 226/168 be moved out of engagement with the ironing roll, but will also provide for automatic compensation for slack created by moving the web away from the ironing roll.

4 Claims, 2 Drawing Figures Nov. 25, 1975 US. Patent APPARATUS TO IRON FIBERS ON A MOVING WEB BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The invention is directed to an apparatus for processing a moving web and, more particularly, to a movable guide structure for moving a moving web into and out of engagement with an ironing roll.

2. Description of the Prior Art It is old in the art to provide an ironing roll for the purpose of ironing the face and/or the fibers on the surface of a moving web. Normally, the ironing roll is a heated cylindrical calender roll which runs against the surface of a moving web and conditions the surface of the moving web normally by ironingor flattening the fibers on the face of the moving web.

US. Pat. No. 3,591,151 discloses arr-apparatus which could be utilized for this purpose. This apparatus has a guiding structure which takes the moving web around a substantial portion of the circumference of the heated drum surface. Means are provided to retract the guiding structure away from the drum surface so that the moving web may move away from the drum surface.

US. Pat. No. 3,641,635 is another example of a heated drum being used to condition the surface of a moving web. A mechanism is provided for holding the web against the drum surface, yet permitting the release of the web from the drum surface at a selected time.

The prior art structures are quite capable of moving a web into and out of engagement with a heated drum surface, but in no way provide for the take-up of slack which is generated when the web is being moved under tension, and where there would be a tendency for slack to develop when the web is moved away from the drum surface. The arrangement of the guide structure of the invention herein will provide the automatic slack takeup feature which is necessary to eliminate the slack problem in a moving web when the web is moved out of engagement with an ironing roll.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The invention herein utilizes air cylinder(s) which move a carriage, supporting four idler rolls, in a vertical direction to bring a moving web traveling over the rolls into contact with a heated ironing roll which irons the fibers on the moving web of material. The arrangement of the four idler rolls relative to other guide rolls for the moving web incorporate in the structure an automatic compensation for slack created by the lowering of the movable carriage and the elimination of the contact between the heated ironing roll and the moving web. The structure also has the provision of a gravity-operated fail-safe system to drop the carriage and move the web from contact with the ironing roll in case of a power failure to the system.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. I is an end view of the ironing roll and guide structure invention herein in their position for ironing a moving web of material; and

FIG. II is an end view of the embodiment of FIG. I wherein the carriage has been moved to its non-ironing position with the moving web away from the ironing roll and with the automatic take-up of slack in the moving web.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The invention is best shown in its operative ironing position in the FIG. I showing. A heated ironing roll or drum 2 is used for the purpose of treating the surface of a moving web. The heated ironing roll can be very similar to the structure set forth in either one of the two above-mentioned U.S. patents. There is nothing critical about the ironing roll structure except that it be basically drum-shaped with a smooth surface, that it be provided with some type of heating means, and would normally be rotated in a direction opposite to that in which the web is moving, but could be operated with the same speed and in the same direction that the web is moving. Naturally, the ironing roll would be of a length at least equal to the width of the moving web of material.

The moving web 4 is moved by appropriate drive and guide structures so that it contacts a portion of the circumference of the ironing roll. Normally, this contact will take place through about of the surface of the heated roll 2. The invention herein is directed to the carriage assembly 6 which mounts the guiding structure for carrying the web in close proximity to the surface of the roll 2. Just adjacent the carriage structure 6, there is an inlet guide roll 8 and an outlet guide roll 10 which are fixedly positioned relative to the heated roll 2 and guide the moving web 4 into the guide assembly 6 and back out of the guide assembly 6 after the web has been contacted by the heated roll 2.

The guide carriage 6 is composedof a carriage assembly 12 which is connected to the rod 14 of an air cylinder 16. The air cylinder is connected to appropriate air supply and control means so that it can be supplied with air to raise the carriage to its operative position for ironing as shown in FIG. I or lowered to its inoperative position for ironing as shown in FIG. II. It is obvious that a failure of the air supply to the cylinder 16 would cause the carriage assembly to drop from the position of FIG. I to the position of FIG. II. Through conventional electropneumatic controls, it is possible to also tie in the power supply for the ironing roll heater and the means for moving the web so that, should the power supply fail for operating the web or the ironer, air could be cut off to the air cylinder, and this, in turn, would permit the carriage to move from its position of FIG. I to its position of FIG. II. Thus, there is provided a structure which will inherently, in the case of power failure, permit the guide rolls for the moving web to move the moving web out of contact position with the heated roll. It is obvious that sometimes this is necessary because, if the web would stop moving and it would still be kept in contact with the drum, it is possible that the moving web could be overheated and catch on fire.

On the carriage 12, there are mounted four guide rolls 18, 20, 22, and 24. As shown in FIG. I, the moving web 4 moves from the inlet guide roll 8, around guide roll 18 and then around guide roll 20 where, at the nip between guide roll 20 and the heated roll 2, the moving web will contact the periphery of the ironing roll. The moving web moves around the periphery of the ironing roll to the point where guide roll 22 is positioned closely adjacent the heated roll 2. By moving the web around guide rolls 20 and 22 and keeping slack out of the moving web, the moving web will be held in contact with the heated roll 2. The web then moves from around guide roll 22 to guide roll 24 and then out to the outlet guide roll 10. As can be seen by the showing of FIG. I, guide rolls 20 and 22 which are mounted on the carriage 12 are positioned on approximately opposite sides of the heated roll 2. Guide rolls I8 and 24 are mounted below guide rolls 20 and 22, beneath the heated roll 2, and are spaced closer together relative to each other than are the guide rolls 20 and 22 spaced relative to each other.

Referring now to FIG. II, the cylinder 16 has moved the rod 14 into its retracted position and thus brought the carriage 12 to its lower inoperative ironing position. This then results in the moving web 4 being moved away from the heated roll 2. Now the portion of the moving web between guide rolls 20 and 22 is not held up against the periphery of the heated roll, but the moving web now moves in a straight line path from guide roll 20 to guide roll 22. However, since all four rolls 18, 20, 22 and 24 are mounted on the carriage 12, both rolls l8 and 24 have been lowered so that now the spacing between inlet roll 8 and guide roll 18, and guide roll 24 and outlet guide roll 10 is substantially greater than that that existed in the FIG. I showing. This difference in spacing takes up the slack that normally would have occurred in the moving web when the path of the moving web between guide rolls and 22 changed from the curved path of FIG. I to the straight path of FIG. II.

It is obvious that it is not the size of the ironing roll or the spacing between rolls 20 and 22 that is critical. These figures can be varied, and in each layout of the guide roll system, it is merely important to know the difference between the distance between (a) rolls 20 and 22 when the web moves in a straight line between those two rolls and (b) the curved path of the web when it moves between these two guide rolls and around the heated roll 2. It is obvious that this latter figure will be larger and would have the straight line figure subtracted therefrom. This difference between these two dimensions is slack to be taken up and this difference is then divided in half and that must then be equal to the distance difference between the inlet roll 8 and guide roll 18, and the outlet roll 10 and guide roll 24 when one is measuring the distance difference between these rolls with the carriage in its operative and inoperative position. For example, the distance between inlet roll 8 and guide roll 18 will be less when the carriage assembly is in the operative position of FIG. I than when it is in the inoperative position of FIG. II. The increased distance between rolls 8 and 18 in the FIG. II embodiment over that distance between rolls 8 and 18 in the FIG. I embodiment must be equal to one-half of the slack which is to be taken up. This simple calculation of slack can be made and, therefore, this determines the distance downward that the carriage must be moved to remove the moving web from contact with the heated roll and, at the same time, gives you the required increased distance between inlet roll 8 and guide roll 18 and outlet roll 10 and guide roll 24 to take up the slack that results in moving the web path between rolls 20 and 22 from a curved path to a straightline path.

What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus for processing a moving web comprising a drum having a surface conditioned to process one surface of the moving web, inlet guide means guiding the moving web towards the drum and outlet guide means guiding the moving web away from the drum, and a guide means positioned adjacent the drum to guide the moving web around a portion of the peripheral surface of the drum, a carriage structure, said guide means being mounted on said carriage structure whereby the moving web can be held in an operative position in contact with the periphery of the drum and in another inoperative position out of contact with the periphery of the drum, and said guide means being so constructed and arranged that it will automatically take up any slack in the moving web as the moving web is moved from a curved path in contact with the drum to a straight-line path out of contact, but adjacent to the drum.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 further including a pneumatic drive mechanism and wherein the carriage structure is moved by said pneumatic drive mechanism from its operative position to its inoperative position.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein the guide means consists of four guide rolls, the center two of which position the moving web in contact with the drum when the moving web is being processed by the drum, but permit the moving web to move in a straight-line direction between the two center guide rolls when the carriage structure is moved to an inoperative position with the moving web out of contact with the drum.

4. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein the other, outer two rolls of the above-mentioned four guide rolls are positioned from the inlet guide means and outlet guide means so that their movement away from these said last-mentioned guide means, when the carriage moves from its operative to its inoperative position, is equal to the difference in the moving web path length as the moving web moves between the center two guide rolls in a curved path adjacent the drum versus when the moving web moves to a straight-line path where the moving web is away from the drum. 

1. AN APPARATUS FOR PROCESSING A MOVING WEB COMPRISING A DRUM HAVING A SURFACE CONDITIONED TO PROCESS ONE SURFACE OF THE MOVING WEB, INLET GUIDE MEANS GUIDING THE MOVING WEB TOWARDS THE DRUM AND OUTLET GUIDE MEANS GUIDING THE MOVING WEB AWAY FROM THE DRUM, AND A GUIDE MEANS POSITIONED ADJACENT THE DRUM TO GUIDE THE MOVING WEB AROUND A PORTION OF THE PERIPHERAL SURFACE OF THE DRUM, A CARRIAGE STTUCTURE, AND GUIDE MEANS BEING MOUNTED ON SAID CARRIAGE STRUCTURE WHEREBY THE MOVING WEB CAN BE HELD IN AN A OPERATIVE POSITION IN CONTACT WITH THE PERIPHERY OF THE DRUM AND IN ANOTHER INOPERATIVE POSITION OUT OF CONTACT WITH THE PERIPHERY OF THE DRUM, AND SAID GUIDE MEANS BEING SO CONSTRUCTED AND ARRANGED THAT IT WILL AUTOMATICALLY TAKE UP ANY SLACK IN THE MOVING WEB AS THE MOVING WEB IS MOVED FROM A CURVED PATH IN CONTACT WITH THE DRUM TO A STRAIGHT-LINE PATH OUT OF CONTACT, BUT ADJACENT TO THE DRUM.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1 further including a pneumatic drive mechanism and wherein the carriage structure is moved by said pneumatic drive mechanism from its operative poSition to its inoperative position.
 3. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein the guide means consists of four guide rolls, the center two of which position the moving web in contact with the drum when the moving web is being processed by the drum, but permit the moving web to move in a straight-line direction between the two center guide rolls when the carriage structure is moved to an inoperative position with the moving web out of contact with the drum.
 4. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein the other, outer two rolls of the above-mentioned four guide rolls are positioned from the inlet guide means and outlet guide means so that their movement away from these said last-mentioned guide means, when the carriage moves from its operative to its inoperative position, is equal to the difference in the moving web path length as the moving web moves between the center two guide rolls in a curved path adjacent the drum versus when the moving web moves to a straight-line path where the moving web is away from the drum. 